Well it has been rolled out folks…Silhouette has released it’s latest updates to their Silhouette Studio V4.2 software and I am loving them.  Can you tell I’m excited?

There are actually about ten specific new features but I am covering the six that  affect what’s  included with the Standard version and the Designer Edition of the software.  The other three pertain to the Designer Plus and Business Edition of the Silhouette software.

I installed the upgraded version and I was oohing and aaahing as I played around with all the new features.   I think if you own this digital cutter you will be doing the same soon.

So, let’s get down to the specifics in the list:

1. Split Screen Library View

The split screen library view allows you to pull out a panel from the left side tab in order to view all your files and saved work.  It makes it easier to click on the design you want to work  with and drag the object into your workspace.  This feature alone is a huge timesaver.  I can’t tell you  how much time I’ve wasted switching in and out of the workspace to retrieve a file or pattern.   It would get pretty annoying trying to get a design done and then get  bogged down by this back and forth feature.  This gets a 5 star rating from me.

2. Thumbnail Preview

This feature is another game changer.  When you start building up several files in your Silhouette library, sometimes you want to get a glimpse of a file or recall who the original designer was.  You can now double click on the small thumbnail and it expands to a pop out screen with all the pertinent info and details.  What a timesaver.  With a slider button, you can expand or decrease the thumbnails in this preview panel.  Enhancing visibility when you have multiple files to look through is another huge enhancement.  This feature gets a 5 star rating.

3. Color Fonts

This feature will allow you to install color fonts purchased from the Silhouette Design Store or other font designer.  It’s specifically for fonts that have a variety of colors, embedded shapes and transparencies.  I believe it is probably a great feature for SVG  designers. 

Note:  The font shown is one I created only as a sample.  I would give this a 4 star rating but there are other designers or crafters that are probably falling off their chair with this new feature.

 

Update (03. 12.10) :

The following is a short video explaining what color fonts are…and how you use them in Silhouette Designer software.

 

 

4. Video Tutorials

This feature is another plus factor in this edition of the Silhouette software.  Under the Help menu, you can get a pull down box that gives you a list of the skills you want to learn in the software with a note on  on it’s complexity.  When you click on the video tutorial, a small pop up box expands from the left side with step-by-step gif instructions of the skill you want to learn.  You can also click thru to view the actual Silhouette Studio video on Youtube.  I will rate this feature 5 stars.

They still have the instructions  on a pdf available if you want to grab instructions and you  are not a visual learner.  In my opinion, sometime it’s easier to understand the instructions when you view someone else going thru the steps.  5 star review on this one.

5.  Freehand Lasso

These next two features are for the Silhouette Studio Designer Edition.  I love this feature.  There are so many times I want to access an object within several tightly spaced objects and using the rectangle or ellipse  selection tool is an exercise in frustration.  The flexibility this feature allows in selecting objects is so awesome.  This feature gets a 5 star rating.

6. Warp Panel

Silhouette knocked it out of the park with this sophisticated feature.  This tool  enables you to warp your text in the preselected shapes shown or as the picture shows– it places a grid and small handles on the text.  With the object selected you can basically “warp” or manipulate the text as you wish.  This feature is great for SVG designers.  This feature is standard in the Adobe Software Suite ( Photoshop, Illustrator)  so this feature gets a 5 star rating from me.

Here’s the digital cutter “Hot Pink”, (affiliate link).

That’s a summary of these six new features.  I will be covering the remaining features for the Silhouette Designer Plus and Business Edition in the future.

Here’s a freebie  Shabby Chic Rose pdf printable >>>>HERE.